Swing of Memories
by edens chaos
Summary: Inspired by the frame flash of Naruto's swing at the almost end of episode 25. Team 7 has finished the first Genin test. Friendship fluff for Team 7 and mild angst for Naruto. Please R


4 years later I've come back to edit this. I've never been proud of a fanfic before this one, and I enjoyed writing this drabble for what it is to me. I hope it makes you smile if you stumble across it.

* * *

"Whew… that was a hard test!" came a rather loud whine from a loud blonde.

"Jeez… it wasn't _that _hard, Naruto," said the pink-haired girl next to him. She rolled her eyes at said blonde before looking to a raven haired boy on his left. He smirked and shared his own comment.

"No, it's just that he's an idiot."

"Hey! I resent that," cried the blonde as he attempted to tackle the boy next to him. Sasuke side-stepped and Naruto was sent crashing into the wall before him.

Poking the boy with his shoe, the brunette continued mockingly, "You were supposed to."

Sakura just sighed as she stopped and watched, amused as her teammates argued. She too was also quite glad to be finished. Spending an hour in that room had been frustrating, the worry for her friends well-being having taken a mild toll on her nerves.

Naruto had hopped back up and tried charging Sasuke again, but the boy anticipated his actions and dodged. Instead of falling this time, Naruto just kept on running, laughing gleefully as he went.

"Bet you can't catch me Sasuke-bastard, Sakura-chan!" he called back

Sasuke just stared after him before glancing at his pink-haired team mate. She shrugged and followed after him at an easy pace. The sound of Naruto's laughing voice echoed through the hall way as they approached the school house doors that led outside. A slight smile graced Sakura's tired face, and an amused glint lit Sasuke's eyes as they reached the outside and pushed open the doors. A melancholy sight greeted them.

Just outside the doors of the almost empty academy, cast in the shadows of the coming sunset sat an elderly oak. From the tree's thick trunk a gnarled branch reached out, a tattered swing dangling like a broken vine. A sad smile adorned the face of the boy who sat on it, swaying slightly in the breeze. Sakura's countenance changed to match Naruto's as she watched the boy swing from side to side in his awkward position. Even Sasuke's eyes softened at the sight.

"Naruto," Sakura called out.

The boy glanced up quickly, surprised, before grinning sheepishly.

"I guess you caught me," He sighed wistfully and continued to sway back and forth.

Walking over, Sakura nudged him lightly, before joining him on the swing as Sasuke leaned up against the tree.

"Cheer up, Naruto," Sakura said with a light grin. "We just passed the first test of the Chunin Exam. We should be celebrating."

At those words, Naruto perked up slightly and lifted his head from where it was resting.

"Yeah." A pause. "Celebrating."

"Hey, dobe." Sasuke grunted slightly, lifting himself from he lax position. "Let's... We're headed to Ichiraku's. You coming? Our treat."

Naruto jumped from his seat, his face aglow with happiness.

"Really!" he chirped, looking like he was about to pounce on Sasuke.

Sasuke looked from Naruto to Sakura, who just grinned at him. Warily he looked back at Naruto and nodded. He was tackled to the ground, too surprised to dodge this time. Naruto was back up in about 5 seconds grinning happily and shouting "Ramen!" at the top of his lungs as Sasuke stared up at him in bewilderment. Sakura burst into laughter at her teammates' actions, gripping the ropes of the swing to stop from falling off.

As her laughter subsided, Naruto ran over to her and grabbed her hands, pulling her off the swing. Sasuke's hands, which had been dusting their owner off, were grabbed as well.

"To Ichiraku's we go!" was shouted by the hyperactive blonde, as the swing was left behind, blowing lightly in the wind.

* * *

While I stopped reading Naruto about two years ago, I still remember and enjoy the moments when it was first starting out. With the chaos that manga has fallen into, I hope this brings a small reverie of the beginning and what could have been.


End file.
